web - Pure Shit 3 LOWRES
Pure Shit (1975)

The Melbourne Cinémathèque & ACMI present

Pure Shit

Bert Deling | Australia | 1975 | R18+
Film

When

Wed 12 Nov 2025

See below for additional related events

Deling’s controversial underground classic, covering a single night in the life of four drug addicts in search of a hit and some excitement, is one of the quintessential Melbourne films, painting an extraordinarily vivid portrait of the hyped-up inner suburban metropolis.

Criticised by many for advocating drug taking, and infamously labelled as “the most evil film I’ve ever seen” by The Herald, it remains one of the most dynamic films ever made in Australia. Featuring Gary Waddell, Max Gillies, Greg Pickhaver and Helen Garner.

Preceded by Struttin’ the Mutton Peter Tammer (1975) 17 mins – Unclassified 15+. Tammer’s extraordinary observational portrait of three men on an inner suburban Melbourne street in the mid-’70s provides a fascinating dissection of Australian masculinity.

Print of Pure Shit courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive, Australia.

Print of Struttin’ the Mutton courtesy of ACMI Collections.

Format: DCP
Language: English
Source: NFSA
Courtesy: Omee Deling
Runtime: 83 mins

Event duration

83 mins

Rating

R18+

Adult themes, Actual sex

Where

Cinema 1, Level 2
ACMI, Fed Square

Plan your visit

Membership options

Mini membership
(3 consecutive weeks)
$30.5–36

Annual memberships
$174–325

See full options

More films screening in this program

There are no upcoming related events at this time.

About Melbourne Cinémathèque

Australia's longest-running film society, Melbourne Cinémathèque screens significant works of international cinema in the medium they were created, the way they would have originally screened.

Melbourne Cinémathèque is self-administered, volunteer-run, not-for-profit and membership-driven. 

Learn more | View the 2025 program | See membership options

Melbourne Cinémathèque - Dirk Bogarde in a still from Victim

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